It goes without saying and is recognized by anyone who follows college football even casually – Urban Meyer is one of the top two or three head coaches in all of college football.

Nick Saban, of course, has a death grip on the top spot when it comes to the discussion.

After Saban, though, who deserves that next spot?

Clemson fans might have an argument in the current moment thanks to the 31-0 skunk the Tigers put on Urban and the Buckeyes in the College Football Playoff in 2016.

But, other than that, nobody other than Meyer can lay claim to that second rung on the ladder.

Here are facts that date back to Meyer’s first years as a head coach:

BOWLING GREEN, 2001-2002

2001: 8-3

2002: 9-3

UTAH, 2003-2004

2003: 10-2, defeated Southern Miss 17-0 in the Liberty Bowl

2004: 12-0, defeated Pittsburgh 35-7 in the Fiesta Bowl

FLORIDA, 2005-2010

2005: 9-3, defeated Iowa 31-24 in the Outback Bowl

2006: 13-1, defeated Ohio State 41-14 in BCS National Championship Game

2007: 9-4, lost 41-35 to Michigan in the Capital One Bowl

2008: 13-1, defeated Oklahoma 24-14 in BCS National Championship Game

2009: 13-1, defeated Cincinnati 51-24 in the Sugar Bowl

2010: 8-5, defeated Penn State 37-24 in the Outback Bowl

OHIO STATE, 2012-Present

2012: 12-0, did not play in any bowl due to sanctions from the Jim Tressel Era

2013: 12-2, lost 40-35 to Clemson in the Orange Bowl

2014: 14-1, defeated Oregon 42-20 in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game

2015: 12-1, defeated Notre Dame 44-28 in the Fiesta Bowl

2016: 11-2, lost 31-0 to Clemson in the College Football Playoff Semifinal Orange Bowl

2017: 12-2, defeated USC 24-7 in the Cotton Bowl

Meyer’s record at Ohio State alone is an astonishing 73-8 with an equally-astonishing Big Ten record of 47-3.

Meyer’s overall career record is 177-31.

Meyer’s 177 career wins puts him 33rd on the all time coaching list in terms of games won.

To put that number is perspective, consider some of the folks he trails:

Bob Stoops is 22nd with 190 career wins.

John Cooper, it may surprise some, is 20th with 192 career wins.

Woody Hayes won 205 games over his career, good for 16th all time.

Nick Saban is currently 14th with 223 wins.

Bo Schembechler won 234 games, good for 11th.

Lou Holtz is 8th all time with 249 wins over his career.

Bobby Bowden is 2nd with 357 wins.

And, of course, Joe Paterno still did actually win all 409 of those games that put him in the top spot, all time.

So, while Meyer is 33rd all time in games won, it’s worth reminding ourselves that he spent four seasons coaching Bowling Green and Utah – and that he’s only 54 years old, with plenty of time to, potentially, end up in the top spot.

But, as great of a coach as Meyer has been, his pedigree – even for Meyer’s most loyal supporters – also includes a substantial amount of controversy stemming from transgressions related to players under his watch and, now, coaches under his watch.

During Meyer’s years as the Gators’ head coach, 31 players were arrested for a wide variety of crimes that included more than the simple garden-variety-boys-will-be-boys misdeeds.

One of Meyer’s Gators was charged with making 70 charges on a credit card that belonged to a woman who had died in a motorcycle accident.

Stolen computers.

DUIs.

Bar fights.

Sexual assaults.

Burglary.

Battery.

Larceny.

Obstruction of justice.

And, as many many recall, in 2007, Aaron Hernandez, while a member of the Florida football program, was involved in an incident that included five gun shots being fired into a car, seriously injuring two of the passengers in the car.

Since Urban Meyer became head coach at Ohio State, the total of arrests hasn’t come close to the total when he was at Florida.

But, at least eight Buckeyes have been arrested for crimes that have included:

The exclusive interview with Zach Smith’s ex-wife, Courtney, detailing her story – with photos that reveal the physical damage done after one of Smith’s alleged domestic abuses of Courtney – can be seen here from the folks at STADIUM –

If anyone wants to argue that Urban Meyer did not know about the abuses Courtney Smith was suffering from in 2015, I’d like to hear how that argument is presented.

Right now, while most Buckeyes want to, understandably, come to the defense of Meyer and howl at the moon at the way the media might be pouncing on this story, it sure does appear as though there is compelling evidence to suggest that Urban Meyer knew about the way Courtney Smith was a victim of serious domestic violence from her husband, one of Urban Meyer’s assistant coaches, Zach Smith, in 2015.

And the evidence is also compelling that Urban Meyer lied last week when he said that he did not know about Zach Smith physically abusing his wife, Courtney, in 2015.

There is only one open-ended question in this situation right now –

Either Urban Meyer’s wife, Shelley, did not tell her husband about Zach Smith physically abusing Courtney Smith in 2015 or she did tell her husband about Zach Smith physically abusing Courtney Smith in 2015.

That’s all this boils down to.

Taking that either/or scenario into account and then considering the past record Urban Meyer has with regard to his players having been arrested due to committing crimes, isn’t it fair to ask if Urban Meyer has questions to answer, at the very least, about his ethics and integrity?

That may seem like a silly question to some people, particularly those who are adamant about the character and integrity that they believe is to be unquestioned with Meyer.

But, is anyone really asking that question right now?

Nobody doubts that Urban Meyer wants what’s best for the kids who are players in his program or the men that are members of his staff or the women that a are part of the administrative element of his football program.

And nobody refutes that Urban Meyer is at the absolute top of his profession when it comes to the fundamentals of coaching football.

But, the entire off-the-field element of Urban Meyer’s entire portfolio brings into serious question the level of integrity he applies to his program.

And with this incident, that no longer appears to be up for debate.

We sure can’t rush to judgment – however, isn’t it reasonable and logical and pretty hard to dispute that Shelley Meyer told her husband about all of this when she found out about it from Courtney Smith in 2015?

Unfortunately, it all seems pretty simple.

And pretty sad.

And, again, at the very least, isn’t it fair to call into question the ethical standards that Urban Meyer applies to the approaches he takes in leading his football program?